Caster Technology

Manual material handling using carts is a prime example of an occupational push and pull task. Managing the risk associated with pushing, pulling and maneuvering carts in the workplace is a critical component of an industrial ergonomics program.
As most facilities or organizations have fleets of carts, a systematic approach is useful in managing and reducing the risks associated with cart handling. While such a system will vary to suit the idiosyncrasies of different operations, there are some common components to these ergonomics cart management programs.
So, what are some best practices for cart ergonomics?

To understand the importance of using the right casters on medical equipment in a healthcare environment, let us examine a scene in an archetypal hospital where patients, carts and sensitive equipment are constantly ushered to various rooms, crossing multiple floors and possibly traveling long distance. Since the environment is in flux, it is imperative to consider the performance and failure rates of casters when evaluating the design of medical equipment both using original casters and replacement casters.
Since casters need to constantly perform at their peak and be durable to create a positive impact on ROI, the logical next step is to examine how to identify the right casters for intended applications. Here are a few key points to consider:

Just as there are safe operating envelopes for aircraft, there are safe operating envelopes for pushing and pulling carts. Just as for aircraft, the strength and endurance capabilities of the human operator play an important role in determining the safe operating envelopes for carts. Operating forces that stress the operator beyond their limits are outside the safe operating envelope. Consequently, measuring the forces exerted by the cart operator and comparing those forces to known operator limits is the basis for determining a safe operating envelope.

What is the Value of Productivity in Your Operations?
Continuous improvement and lean manufacturing are top-of-mind with manufacturing and distribution organizations worldwide. The concept is that incremental changes can result in major cost wins for the organization.
In a recent real-life client test scenario, high quality casters proved to be effective in increasing worker productivity by 10%. When factoring in wage costs of workers, this translates to significant productivity improvement related cost savings.

For organizations that rely heavily on wheeled equipment in their day-to-day operations, the purchasing department is tasked with making purchasing decisions that impact the design and handling of equipment. The purchasing department’s main goal is to minimize purchasing costs. This goal can be in direct opposition of other departmental goals. It’s important to remember that a solution that has a low up-front cost is not going to give the long-term, maintenance-free performance and ergonomic benefits of a higher quality, better engineered and therefore more expensive product.

The automotive industry is one of the biggest players in providing ergonomic mandates for their plant employees. Many automotive manufacturing companies use existing health and safety standards, such as OSHA, to develop their own set of guidelines.
In an automotive plant, there are many tasks that require the right kind of posture or equipment to handle or transport product in order to keep employees safe and healthy.

Casters are used on a variety of applications that range from rough terrain to debris ridden floors to ovens and freezers. Using the wrong caster for an application can seriously degrade the caster performance and, in extreme cases, may even cause injury to the user. Find out how high temperature and wet environments can impact the ideal performance of your casters.

The 2016 Applied Ergo show held Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort in Orlando in March 2016 saw a record number of attendees. The venue provided a great atmosphere to network with some of the leading ergonomists, many of whom were looking for the latest products and services that center upon this unique field of study.
The interest in ergonomics continues to grow with various studies and medical papers being written that support the need to focus on injury prevention and reducing workplace related fatigue. Darcor has contributed to these papers by developing The Guide to Workplace Ergonomics which covers a variety of areas to ensure employee health and safety, with specific focus on overexertion injuries that occur in the workplace.
Some of the well-attended workshops and featured speakers at AEC 2016 included…

Designing and equipping carts for transporting heavy loads is a crucial area of focus as creating the best cart for the specific application can have a major impact on workplace ergonomics. Not only is the design of the structure of the cart important (e.g. handhold height/orientation/type, design, stability, size), but the casters used on the cart can have a significant effect as well.
Combining the science of caster wheel radius and material can help you choose the optimum wheel design to meet your company’s ergonomic needs.